


The Summer When the Sun Didn't Shine

by orphan_account



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Compliant, Gen, Hiding, Post-Canon, people think Marble Hornets is fictional in universe, skully is there, so are annoying teenagers who think bothering tim is funny, tim just wants to try and live a normal life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24063574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tim just wants to move on. Everyone aside from himself and Jessica is dead, and he's not about to drag her back in by hanging around. Just when he seems to be getting the fresh start he's always wanted he begins to be bothered by two clumsy masked strangers who seem to know everything that happened and might just cause everything to come crashing down.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	The Summer When the Sun Didn't Shine

Tim had done everything he could to move on from what happened. He had moved towns, used a fake name, and had left that monster and everything it had forced into his life back in Tuscaloosa. He hadn’t left behind the blood on his hands or the bodies in his brain. He doubted that was something he could ever get rid of, especially when it was something talking about would make him look crazy at best or at worst get him arrested. Instead, he kept it inside his mind, turning it over like a rock in the tide of an ocean. If he was lucky the jagged edges of the memory would smooth out and stop poking him in the back of his mind constantly reminding him about everything that had been his fault. He sighed to himself as he lay in bed, ignoring the alarm going off until the buzz began to drive him insane.

He got prepared for work, a job as a cashier at a small grocery store that he had managed to keep for a month now that he had everything under control. His masked self hadn’t resurfaced since he left Tuscaloosa, likely since Brian wasn’t running around stealing his medication to bring that part of him out purposefully, and the fact he hadn’t seen that faceless thing either. He attached his nametag which claimed his name was Andrew to the front of his uniform before he prepared breakfast and lunch for himself. He shoved a box of cigarettes into his bag, thinking about how he should try to kick the smoking habit since he was changing everything about himself anyway, and quitting would likely make his coughing more infrequent, in turn reducing his anxiety whenever a fit began. Even if he knew it was all over he knew that thing was still out there, and even if it slipped into the back of his mind the thought that it could come and drag him back in at any moment persisted. That was why he was alone. He couldn’t risk hurting anyone else by getting too close. He had done plenty enough of that in the past. He hadn’t spoken with Jessica since the last time he had seen her in person when he had filmed the last entry. He hoped she was doing well and that everything that had gone on wasn’t affecting her too badly, but couldn’t check out of fear that it would only bring things back to haunt the both of them. He finished preparing for work and left his small apartment, looking around as he did so. Even if he knew Alex was gone and he didn’t have to watch his back all the time the habit was still there. He noticed two girls across the street, staring towards him and whispering something. He looked away briefly, only to find one pointing towards him when he looked back. He locked eyes with them and they ran, laughing. It confused him but he thought nothing of it. Maybe he looked familiar to them, or they had pulled some sort of prank on him. He sighed, climbing into his car and turning the ignition before pulling out of the driveway.

He arrived at work at the same time as his manager, Flora, getting out of his car just as she unlocked the front doors. He waved to her as he pulled his bag out of the passenger seat and she smiled back at him.

“Hey, Andy! How was your weekend?” She said to him as he jogged to the door. “Did you do anything exciting?”

“No, just the usual things I do.” He responded as they weaved through the aisles towards the backroom.

“So you did nothing?” She responded with a laugh. “Andy, you’re 26 and the most exciting part of your life I can glean from what little you say to others is when Maisie from down the road throws a fit over an expired coupon. That’s kind of sad, don’t ya think?”

“It might be sad, but it’s safe.” He responded with a sigh. “The best thing I can do is play it safe. I’ve had enough danger for a lifetime.”

“Have I unlocked Andrew Wright’s tragic backstory?” Flora joked, nudging him in the shoulder. For a moment his smile collapsed but he plastered it back on before she could notice. He glanced at the cameras and watched as some of his other coworkers arrived. The entire store crew was made up of Flora, Genie, August, Max, Jennifer, Allison, and himself. Flora and Genie were both older than him by at least two decades, with August, Max, Jennifer, and Allison all being local highschoolers of varying ages. “Looks like the party’s all here.”

“I’ll grab the tills from the back, I know you want to check to make sure that homeless guy didn’t let himself into the garage again.” He said. Flora nodded and gave him a thumbs-up as she jogged to the delivery area. Tim walked to the cash office where he grabbed the till from the safe before closing it up and heading towards the front. He put it into the register, pausing when he felt eyes on his back. He turned quickly, catching Max giving him a puzzled look like he was trying to figure something out. Max quickly turned away, running towards the back in a way that seemed as though he were trying to play down the running. He held some sort of paper in his hand that looked as though it had seen better days. Tim shrugged, furrowing his brow as he returned to set up the register before opening, ideas on why so many people seemed suddenly interested in staring at him. He didn’t see any other strange things until his lunch break.

“Hey, Andy?” Max asked nervously, his hands trembling as he approached him clutching the paper from before. Tim put out his cigarette and threw it away before turning to the teen. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Uh, that depends on what kind of question it is.” He responded, hoping it wouldn’t be something weird or invasive. “Shoot.”

“Well, I was just wondering if you had a twin or something, I mean, these two girls in my English class last semester saw you here the other day and asked me your name and so I told them that you’re Andrew Wright, and then they handed me this poster and in my head, I was all like ‘Hey that looks just like Andrew!’ so I said that to them and they were all ‘we know! Can you ask him if he knows this guy!” The teen paused for a breath before handing the paper over to Tim. He took it reluctantly, eyes growing wide as he looked it over. “So anyway, they wanted to know if you know who the guy on this poster is or if it’s a crazy coincidence you look the same and have the same last name.”

“Where did they get this?” He asked, growing more nervous as he looked at it. It had his face, without the beard, plastered across it with the words missing in a bold red above it. ‘Last seen in Tuscaloosa area with Jay Merrick (Missing.) If anyone has any details pertaining to either case please call Tuscaloosa Police.” was written underneath it, with a phone number.

“They said they found it in an abandoned hospital somewhere outside of Tuscaloosa while they were looking for locations from some sort of web series. They showed me some neat burnt tapes they found in a hole before they found this, one of them even worked still and had this freaky tall guy. It was like The Ring.” Tim could feel a panic attack coming on, but he did everything he could to contain it. “Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s fine.” He responded, crushing the paper in his hand by accident. He looked down on the ground, trying to think of a cover story. “If I have a twin I don’t know about it, but who knows I didn’t see my family for most of my life.”

“Oh. That’s sad. I’ll let them know.” Max walked off, before turning back to Tim. “You might want to watch out for them. It sounds kind of like they’ve been stalking you. Just so you know.”

When Max rounded the corner and stepped back inside Tim sat back down on the bench, putting his head in his hands. He breathed in and out until he felt he was calm enough to return to what he had been doing.

Tim was paranoid for the rest of the day, but it went mostly without incident until ten minutes before closing when two people walked in, one wearing a tan-yellow hoodie, the other a black one with something he couldn’t make out from his post drawn on the back. Their faces were covered by their hoods and they ducked quickly into the first aisle meaning Tim couldn’t get a look at their faces. He immediately phoned the backroom.

“Two people just walked in, you might want to track them on the camera. It looked like they’re trying to avoid being seen, they might be stealing.” He told Flora quietly, hoping they couldn’t hear him.

“Thanks for the heads-up Andy.” She replied, hanging up. Tim returned the phone to its spot on the wall before returning to the counter. He kept his eyes on the others on the floor, hoping that if one of them was attacked by these people he could get to them in time. Max was stocking a shelf a few feet to his left, whilst August was sweeping the floor by the entrance with Jennifer mopping behind him. He couldn’t see Allison but knew that she was on the floor somewhere. His eyes scanned the store, searching above the shelves for the tall bun she always tied her pink hair into. His blood ran cold when he heard her scream. He jumped over the counter in panic, running towards the source of the sound. The hooded strangers were standing in front of a corner with Allison trapped against the walls by them. One of them looked as though they were holding a metal pipe. 

“HEY!” Tim screamed at them, catching them off guard. They turned to face him, his breath catching in his throat when he saw the crude masks covering their face that reminded him of his own that he had discarded. One of them seemed to whisper something about him to the other, and everything combining made Tim realize this had everything to do with him. He was stupid for thinking he could ever escape the past. “I don’t know what you want but leave her alone.”

His voice shook as he spoke and the one in black stepped away, allowing Allison to scamper past them. One of them moved forward, lifting the pipe and preparing to charge him. Tim blacked out. Not in the same way that he did in the past when his medication was spotty at best, but enough that by the time he realized what he was doing the one with the pipe was on the floor and he had snatched their weapon away from them. He backed away, pushing himself across the tile floor with his feet. The one on the floor was either unconscious or dazed, Tim didn’t care which. Their partner seemed to stare at them dumbfounded for a moment before grabbing them under their arms and dragging them towards the front.

“MAX SHUT OFF THE EXIT AND LOCK THE VESTIBULE.” He shouted, following the strangers from an aisle over. He heard Max step into the vestibule, hoping he had remembered to grab the key. By the time they had reached the front, he watched the push through the door to the vestibule only to find the exit and entrance locked. Max descended on the door out into the vestibule, pulling it shut and locking it quickly as the masked stranger who was still awake pounded on the door with the palm of their hand. They stepped back, clearly frustrated that whatever their plan had been having failed. Tim dropped the pipe on the counter, leaning against it and running a hand through his hair. “Jesus…”

Max and Allison walked over to him, standing a few feet away from him awkwardly. They wanted to say something, Max’s expression gave it away clearly. The kid was easy to read, just like Jay had been. Allison was another story, she was able to keep her expressions under control and hide her emotions under a blank expression as Alex had, but it was clear from them both approaching him they each had their own set of questions or statements to make.

“Andy, do you know who these people are? Allison said you looked freaked out when you saw them as if you recognized them.” Max asked first. 

“I don’t know these people but the masks reminded me of people I used to know.” He responded plainly. 

“Why?” Allison prodded.

“Why does it matter?” He snapped, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know it was a sore spot,” Allison said before walking off, leaving Tim with Max. The teenager turned to Tim again.

“You know, Esther and Jane showed me more of that web series they thought you were in during my lunch, and they were right, that guy is just like you Andy, and his character's past had a lot to do with masks,” Max said with a grin. 

“What are you getting at?” Tim asked, quirking his brow.

“I don’t think your name is Andy.” Was all Max said before walking off, leaving Tim to let the thoughts of the day run wildly through his head. If he got found out it could ruin everything. He could lose his job and subsequently lose his apartment and everything he had worked towards. He turned to look back at the vestibule, his blood running cold. The sliding door to the outside had been forced open with a pipe, similar to the one one of the strangers had dropped. The strangers were gone. He went home that night paranoid.


End file.
